I found this pic on ebay today.
This shows what you need to cut off of a t'top car and install onto yours. Sorry if I got anyones hopes up on a step by step article or something like that but this needs to be on the boards for future reference.

 

how much is that? does it come with the actual ttops?

 

Right now the price is at 9.99
heres the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...&category=6763

OMG its in AR

 

hmm.....got me thinking again....truck freight is so expensive though Oh well...will have to watch it and see what happens

-Paul

 

That is'nt worth $9.99. It's junk. It's cut wrong in the front or A-pillars. The right way would include the cowl plate that sit's right above the door hinges, and on top of the upper rail. Whoever cut it off was lazy. Welding that on a car would turn it into a death trap in a collision or roll-over. It should not be used as a reference. Sorry, it's a hack job, pardon the pun.

 

Well not exactly, http://www.markscustomkits.com/T-top_Conversion.html this link will take you to the pros and if you look where they cut the roof then it still goes with the one on ebay. This pic was taken from Markscustomkits.

 

If you're doing enough of something (or something happens) to roll one of these cars, I'd wadger the roof collapsing/breaking would be the least of your worries.
Even on an original equipped t-top, I wouldn't have the false security of the roof supporting the car if it did flip somehow. I will say it would have been wise to just drill the spot welds out at the cowl/hinge piller part though to make roof alignment somewhat easier. If strength is really a worry, you could easily add some form of reinforcement to the inside of the windshield a-pillars.

 

Yeah, I was pretty sure that roof was cut just like MarksCustomKits does it. I wouldn't depend on the roof of a thirdgen to stand up. I saw a picture of a hardtop that had a tree fall on it and it wasn't real pretty Anyway, It's still interesting to think about t-top conversion

-Paul

 

The cut is actually fine. The A-pillars have been left long enough for you to do your own "custom cuts" as seen in the other pic--just like "chopping the top" on a car. Hopefully the person buying this would be competent enough to do the swap. IMO it's WAY too much of a PITA--you'd need to be extremely precise, otherwise the t-tops, hatch glass, windshield, side windows, etc won't match up correctly.

As far as the roof collapsing, I think that it's not a likely scenario. Probably 99% of the 3rdgens wrecked have the front ends totalled. With the low center of gravity, rolling one of these cars is unlikey unless you're driving fairly stupidly (or have some really bad luck), or are doing some hardcore racing, in which case it would be smart to get a roll bar for added protection/chassis stiffening anyways.

Hell, the t-top plate on the roof assembly is worth the cost of the truck freight alone. You simply can't find non-rusty ones...

MILT

 

hhmmm, take a look at this. its a fourth gen. but same idea

http://pages.sprint.ca/Conversion/files/Index.html

 

Thats neat if you have a 4th gen. But unfourtantly GM decided we should not have as much as an easy time to convert a hard top to t'top. The 4th gens have everything needed on a hard top car"except t'top hardware" To just pull the skin off and cut the "window bars" do some grinding and add all nessicary t'top hardware and weatherstripping and youre done. It would have been a g0dsend if GM would have made it where you could just cut the skin on the roof off and repeate the 4th gen process. Ah if GM was only thinking real hard back then.


I'll attach a few pics of the hook and pin t'top brackets that are bolted onto the car body.

First is the hook style.

 

And the pin style. Sorry for the crappyness of the pics, I had to use the basic picture quality to get them on my mem card.

 

Milt is right. There's plenty of material there. To do that and make it strong, you just make sure you overlap the metal. You don't just butt it up to the other section and weld it, As long as you overlap it and weld properly, it'll be STRONGER than stock. Not that it matters because it'll just crumble in the unmodified sections above and below.

That process isn't really a whole lot different than piecing in a quarter panel, except that getting the new roof section at the right height can pose some challenges if you're not careful.

 

That's the other side of the coin, it would take forever to line it up right. I know how to do it, and i would'nt. Stronger than stock, NO, it would'nt be. Butt welds vs. plug welds = weak joint.

Sorry to be a pesimest here, i'm a GM Master Collision Tech, and that does'nt mean i know it all by any means, but selling a t-top cut like that is stupid. It just P'od someone would be lazy enough to cut it off like that and try to sell it like it's something special. I guess i'm a pick when it comes to using factory joints. Sectioning A-pillars is never a good idea. Especially on a car that has a very raked windshield and needs all the strength it can get.

Whoever buys that thing should buy a case of Aqua-Net and a box of ear plugs for the wind they'll have because it will never line right.

If it was cut right, i would be easy. Just set it on the cowl. But now, it would be a complete PITA. Not worth it, junk.

Now, someone like 85SC/89RS could use it because he would already have the A-pillars and could go from the center beam back.